


Feeling Debased

by weatherflonium



Series: Metall/u/rgy [5]
Category: Metall/u/rgy
Genre: Economics, F/F, Fluff, Jealousy, Not Completely Historically Accurate, Personification
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 13:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5092349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatherflonium/pseuds/weatherflonium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With high demand and limited supply, Silver gets help from Lead to make ends meet. Gold gets jealous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feeling Debased

The plan was perfect.

Silver hadn't been paying her much attention of late, and Gold was growing frustrated. In more ways than one. They'd been so... close, recently, and then suddenly Silver shuts herself away all day, and they barely see each other. The one time Gold could be sure she saw Silver in a given day was in their bed; since Silver usually rose and slept earlier than Gold, this hardly worked in her favour.

Today, though, Gold would go to bed early, and wait for Silver's arrival. She'd had the staff replace the bedding with lavish silk sheets; Gold almost purred as she slipped out of her dress and into the large, four-poster bed. She slid one leg and most of her waist under the sheets, leaving a single long, shapely leg to curve back over the top. She slipped most of the sheet up to just past her waist, then drew out another piece of silk to drape loosely over her chest. She rolled to her side slightly, just enough to be facing the door, and readied her finest sultry gaze for the moment the door slid open.

Just as she expected, Silver soon came through the door, walking towards the bed as if in a trance. Silver looked ragged; her short, grey hair, usually impeccably neat, was a ragged mess, and her skin looked paler than usual. Nothing, of course, that Gold didn't plan on fixing.

As Silver grew closer, Gold reached out for her, clasping Silver's hand in hers, and whispered, a husky tone in her voice, “I've been waiting for you.” She slowly drew the hand towards her chest, Silver leaning over towards the bed. Just as she brought Silver's hand to her breast, Gold heard a loud, echoing snore; Silver was sound asleep, only halfway into the bed.

Muttering to herself, Gold delicately lifted Silver into the bed; the other woman showed no signs of awareness. Gold sighed; so much for perfect.

* * *

Gold stared across the courtyard into the window of Silver's study; inside, Silver was chatting at length with another woman. A woman who could, Gold had finally concluded, only be her rival. Gold wouldn't have been so offended if it had been, say, Tin; Tin, she would admit, could be rather dashing. But _Lead_? Quiet, mousy-haired Lead, with her strange machines and her towering stacks of books? If she'd told herself a month ago that she'd lose Silver to someone like Lead, she'd have thought it ridiculous.

Lead had her good points, of course. She was clever, Gold had to give her that: especially in light of the printing press, for good or ill. That very cunning must be the root of how she was stealing Silver. Her visits were almost regular now; she'd arrive in the late morning, and spend most of the day in Silver's study. Gold hadn't really given her much thought before, but now? Now that Silver was slipping away? She had to know what they were up to.

It didn't seem like a particularly dramatic sort of affair; all Gold could see from the window was the two of them pouring over stacks of paper and the large piles of books Lead brought with her, occasionally stopping to talk at length, Silver making the occasional note in some text or another. Still, something was keeping Silver from her, and she was going to find out what it is.

She left her viewing perch and walked to the foyer, where she pretended to busy herself with a heavy book of puzzles and kept a vigilant watch over the door leading to Silver's study. Soon enough, the door creaked open, and Lead shuffled out, propping the door open with her shoulder as she cradled a teetering stack of books in her hands. As with every time Gold had seen her, she looked almost dirty: her hair, naturally a pale grey, was stained dark with some form of ink or grime, and despite their dark colour, several splotches were visible on her loose-fitting clothes.

“Can I lend a hand?” Gold walked over to Lead, cautiously, careful not to let on about any suspicions.

“Ah! Miss Gold!” Lead slowly turned around. “Please, do you mind?” She hunched over, holding the teetering stack about level with gold. “If you could take half of the books, please, just as far as my carriage!” Gold couldn't see Lead's face behind the stack, so she shrugged and lifted the books from the middle. Gold staggered back a moment; the books were heavier than she'd expected them to be. “Thank you!” She turned to her side to see Lead standing next to her, smiling awkwardly.

They walked in silence for several moments, before Lead finally said, “She talks about you a lot, you know. I wish I could be like you two.” Gold bit her tongue before she could interject. “You've been together for a long time?”

Gold nodded, taking a short, sharp breath. “What are you two doing in there?”

Lead froze for a moment. “You... probably want to talk to Silver about that.” She nodded with her head towards the books. “I can handle these well enough, but... I can't really explain things well, and she's the one who came to me anyway.” Gold fought back a scowl. Apparently, she and Silver were due for a talk.

* * *

Gold woke early the next day, tossed on some light clothing, and headed straight for Silver's study. After one quick knock, before Silver could reply, she swung the door of the study open, striding confidently to the centre of the room to loom over Silver's desk. “We need to talk.”

Silver looked up at her through her thick spectacles; even if she hadn't been working long, weariness was still smeared all across her face. Silver's short, white hair was looking frayed at the edges, and thin but noticeable bags hung under her eyes. “Does it have to be-” Silver yawned loudly, cutting herself off; at another time, Gold would have found it cute. “Er, right now? I'm just... tired today.”

“You've been tired every day!” Gold huffed angrily. “You always seem to have time for _Lead_.”

Silver froze. "I-i-it's not what you think!" she stammered, jumping to her feet; the sudden movement rocked her desk, sending papers flying across the study and sending the small inkwell over the edge. Silver watched in horror as a cloud of painstakingly-written pages drifted into the growing pool of ink. She winced for a moment then walked around her desk towards Gold. “Please, I can explain!”

Gold nodded for her to continue. “Ugh, where to begin... you don't understand this, you don't get scarce, you get _valuable!_ Do you have any idea what one florin is worth nowadays? Seven times the lira! _Seven times!_ ” Silver flailed her hands about wildly. “They don't need you every day! You sit in Vienna and Paris for a rainy day; I have to stretch across the world, and there's only so much of me to go around!” Silver swept her hands across the desk. “Do you know what this is? Soldiers, farmers, craftsmen, printers... everyone needs to be paid, and more often than not they need me to do it! I can't be everywhere, damn it! So yes, I've been seeing a lot of Lead! She's got a lot more reach than I do, and I just can't get everywhere anymore! But do you really think I'm _sleeping with her_?!” Silver sputtered angrily, spinning on one foot, and walking back to her desk, where she sat down with a loud, angry huff, her head collapsing onto one of the remaining piles of paper.

“Sil-” Gold started.

“I'm sorry.” Silver sighed, her voice weak. “It's just... sometimes I feel a little stretched thin. I shouldn't have taken it out on you.”

“No, I shouldn't have-”

“You shouldn't?” Silver laughed. “I shouldn't have stayed locked in here all day and night. You just jumped to a silly conclusion; I've been ignoring you for weeks.” Silver laughed. “But really? Me and Lead? Not to say anything against her, she's a dear friend... but you do know that there's hundreds of years of tradition focused almost entirely on making her more like you, right?” Silver laughed. “You really thought I'd just... abandon you like that?” Silver shook her head, slowly. “I can't imagine _how_ I could do that, let alone why. Not once, not once since I've met you, have you been anything but... brilliant, to me, to everyone. I-” Silver paused.

“Oh, to hell with it!” Silver shouted, slamming her quill into the inkwell, standing, and walking across the study to face Gold head-on. “Gold. I can't say when it'll be, but...” Silver paused, steadying herself, “sometime, when I don't have to think about mines running dry, or unbalanced trade, or inflation, or expensive continental conflicts...” she took a deep breath, then, as quickly as she could, said “Iwantyoutomarryme.” No sooner had the words left her mouth than her eyes rushed to the floor, an obvious blush on her cheeks.

Gold's face went blank, save for a very visible blush. Hesitantly, she asked “...you what?”

“Iwantyoutomarryme.” Silver repeated, even more flustered.

Gold's mouth slowly lifted into a smile, her eyes sparkling, as she leaned in closer to Silver. “I'm sorry, could you repeat that? It was a little fast.” Her smile was brilliant now; it was like her entire face was shining.

Silver's face was stained completely red. “I...” she paused to take two slow, deliberate breaths. “I want-”

Gold nodded. “Go on...”

Silver dropped to one knee, her eyes taking in every detail of the ornate rug below her. “Gold! I want you to be my wife!”

Silver stared at the ground for what felt like an eternity before she felt two arms tuck themselves under her shoulders and pull her to her feet. She was immediately pulled into a long, tight hug, her face pressed into the base of Gold's neck. Taking a moment to collect herself, she pulled back slightly and looked up at the most beautiful thing she had seen in her life: Gold, laughing, tears running down her cheeks, and her face wearing the biggest beaming smile Silver had ever seen.

As Silver leaned in for the kiss, Gold placed a single finger on her lips, and said “Not so tired now, are you?” with a knowing grin.

* * *

Lead stood frozen outside the door, her hand an inch away from knocking. She slowly turned on one foot to face the other way; from the other side of the door, words gave way to mumbles, and mumbles gave way to moans.

She could come back later, she thought. Maybe tomorrow.

Or next week.

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes /u/ has some crazy ideas. Crazy ideas like shipping personificiations of metals.
> 
> The historical basis for this is the substantial debasement of silver currency in the early modern era: yes, I know that copper was far and away the most common metal used for this, and that lead isn't particularly suited for currency on its own, but in the context of this setting Copper is Gold and Silver's daughter, so this fic doesn't work so well with her in place of Lead.
> 
> Silver references the florin and the lira, which were Florentine coins, gold and silver respectively: at first, the florin was intended to have the same value of the lira, but ongoing debasement (to fund the European wars of the period) saw the silver lira drop to the point that one florin (having the same gold content as ever) was worth seven, as Silver notes here to compare how things are going for Gold compared to her. Lead's assistance to Silver is, obviously enough, her presence in padding out all those coins that need to be minted; Silver is feeling stretched thin because, well, she is. (Incidentally, my idea of Gold's "human name" is in honor of the florin, known natively as the fiorino d'oro. Silver's name is a reference to the silver thaler, another coin from this time period.)
> 
> As for how my interpretations of the metals go: Gold is aristocratic and somewhat oblivious to practical concerns, as she is typically associated with wealth and prestige, and high-value currency like the florin or guilder. Silver, while still definitely upper-class, is closer to a burgher: more directly involved in commerce, trade, and business. Lead, in this early-modern setting, is a scholar, which leads into her modern "physicist" role nicely and alludes to lead's role in the production of movable type.
> 
> Gold is about a head taller than Silver; this doesn't really have a basis in anything other than me finding the mental image adorable. Their general designs are based on the drawfriend's picture from the /u/ thread, which can be found [here](http://imgur.com/a/uZauL) along with other Metall/u/rgy stuff. Lead's design was entirely my mental image, but the drawfriend has since depicted her (and the kiss from the end of this fic), which is pretty awesome of them.
> 
> While I didn't use the names in this fic, I used the "human" names discussed [in the interest of disclosure: in no small part by me] from the /u/ thread to distinguish these tags from the Pokemon characters of the same names.
> 
> [EDIT 20/11/15: Minor retcon from a mention of Iron to a mention of Tin, since the metals now have canon ages that make Iron fitting in Gold's peer group much less likely]


End file.
